“I’m Here” from the Broadway Musical the Color Purple

The Color Purple, began it’s miraculous journey to exposure starting with the publishing of Alice Walker’s novel in 1982, and the earning of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in the following year. The novel and musical tells the story of Celie, a black woman who struggles to overcome a lifetime of abuse, poverty, and bigotry in the hopes of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Nearly 20 years later, Walker was approached by producer Scott Sanders about adapting her book into a Broadway musical.

Initially reluctant to this idea, Walker consented within about 2 years, as they both decided that in the making of this musical, it was crucial that the team included artists of color and female artists, as sacrificing this aspect would entail sacrificing the authenticity of the story. Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Marsha Norman penned the book for the show, with music and lyrics by Stephen Bray, Allee Wills and Brenda Russell. The following year, Oprah Winfrey joined the production team and in 2005, Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Color Purple debuted on Broadway. The production earned 10 Tony nominations in 2006 and LaChanze won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of the main character ‘Celie.’

This musical, branched off of a powerful novel written by a female woman of color, and then translated into a musical by another woman, elicits many of the elements missing in popular culture, including that of musical theatre. The pure depiction of the racial tension and women’s struggle for their rights blended with the exquisite exhibition of collaborative music, choreography, and lyrics was truly unparalleled in popular culture, especially at the time. Arguably, it was the raw execution of the individual woman of color’s struggle that highlighted so many important world issues for those who were able to attend performances of it.

The song “I’m Here” sung by the character Celie, is one of the final pieces sung as she finally attains the sense of self-love she had been desperately searching for, is reunited with her sister in Africa, and realizes that the adversity she had faced for her entire upbringing was the furthest thing from exhibiting a lack of capacity for growth and happiness.

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